


as the sky opens up around us

by fluffbird



Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: (but not a lot really), All hell breaks loose essentially, Apocalypse, Blood, Bugs & Insects, Canon-Typical Worms, Canon-typical cows, Creepy weirdness, M/M, Missing Scene, episode 160, martin is very concern abt jon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-31
Updated: 2019-10-31
Packaged: 2021-01-15 13:46:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 894
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21254342
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fluffbird/pseuds/fluffbird
Summary: SPOILERS FOR EPISODE 160Martin was just trying to take a nice walk and get some pictures of some cows, and really didn't ask for all this.Missing scene from episode 160, Martin's POV of the whole apocalypse starting thing.





	as the sky opens up around us

**Author's Note:**

> Shoutout to @ComposerEgg on here and Niki on the RQ discord server for beta-reading this for me!

Out in a field, somewhere in the Scottish countryside, a small herd of cows happily munched away at the grass growing under them. A fence made of sticks and rope separated the field from the forests and grasslands that surrounded it, lands that sat on gently rolling hills reaching off into the distance. To the west, lay a village and to the east, a cottage, connected to civilization only by a small dirt road. The sun was low but not yet setting, casting the world in a warm light. It was, as such landscapes often tend to be, absolutely stunning. 

Taking a break from his walk to sit down in the grass, Martin decided that he absolutely _ had _ to capture a snapshot of it all for later. Or at least of the cows—he’d promised Jon he’d tell him if he saw any ‘good’ ones, after all. He pulled out his phone and opened up the camera, moving it around and manually messing with the focus to try and get as good an image as he could: wide enough to fully capture the landscape, but small enough that those cows wouldn’t be lost in the midst of it all. Photography was one of Martin’s many hobbies, and he refused to settle for anything less than perfect. 

It took a few minutes and multiple attempts before he got one he liked, but once he did, his face lit up with a proud grin. He moved to stand up, having decided he was done with his break but not quite sure if he wanted to go back home or continue his walk. Pushing himself up by hands and feet, he was midway through rising when suddenly--

**T͈ͭͣ̌ h̘̲̰͔̬̩̰ͤ̃ ḛ͎̫̞̥̐̈̂ͥ͐́ ̝̣̓ͩ̈́̊ͬͭͅ s͍̤̯̖̣̓ͧ͌̆̎̚͠ k̸̯ͬ y̢̘͔͂ ̺̝̖͙͈̈́̌ w̶͉͇͔̺̼̥͐ ā̵͈ s̥̹̐ ̹̅ s̹̺͈ͣ̇͌̈ͯ̊ ṗ̆̏ͬ l͎͓̼͚̬͒͟ į̫̼̩̭͖͙̔̋ͫ͐̚ t͈͎͓̳ͩͩͫ́ t̜͇̝̞ͣ̊̌̚ i͍͚̞̘̻̤͒ͧ͒ͯ̿͜ ñ̜̻̠̙̝͈͛̐ͫͧ̒ g̰̘̪̝̍̎̊̐͐̀ ͖̫̤̿͂͊ o̡͈ͧ͌̉̊͆ p̢̗̗̞̈́̄͆ ḙ̪̜ nͤ̅̾́ͩͫ͌ .̯͈͙̜̲̫͑͜**

There was a loud boom behind him, like the clap of thunder but even louder, and Martin felt himself _ lift off the ground _ as he was shoved forward by the sheer force of… whatever had just happened. Without realizing it, he cried out in alarm. For a brief moment, the entire world seemed to disappear, everything reduced to static and pressure and the distinct sensation of _ falling _ interrupted by a flash of pain as it came to an end. When he came back to himself he was laying on the ground, a loud whine ringing in his ears and pain blooming through his entire body. He groaned and flipped himself over, forcing himself to sit back up. 

“What the _ hell? _” he mumbled to himself as he shook his head in an attempt to clear out a bit of the shock-induced fog that had filled his brain. He looked around, trying to get a feel for what had happened.

It didn’t take him long to realize the question he _ should _ have been asking himself was what _ hadn’t _ happened. 

The sky was green, to start with. The sky was green and the clouds—which hadn’t been there at all before—were blood red. The forest was ablaze with flames that burned black, and where the cows had stood just moments ago was a giant clump of pulsating meat, thick blood oozing onto the ground around it. The wind howled and a loud roar came from—well, he wasn’t sure actually, it almost sounded as if it was coming from the earth itself. Things he could only describe as _ tendrils _ reached out of the soil and up toward the sky, squirming and twisting and coiling and squelching in a way that sounded far too much like those _ worms _ for Martin’s comfort. And speaking of worms—oh _ god _ , large patches of the ground were absolutely _ crawling _ with bugs: ants and roaches and centipedes and yeah, Martin needed to get out of here _ right this instant. _

He jumped to his feet, ignoring the pain that shot through his body. His phone laid cracked a few metres from where he’d been laying, and he rushed to grab it before breaking out into a sprint straight toward the house. Everything was wrong, absolutely nothing made sense, and only one coherent thought could force its way through his clouded mind: _ I have to get to Jon. _

The time it took Martin to reach the cottage passed in a blur. He shoved open the door and rushed in, barely remembering to close and lock the door before starting to frantically look around for Jon. The inside of the house was chaotic too, but in a way completely different from the outside: furniture broken and knocked over and ceramics laying shattered on the floor. There was also no sign of Jon.

“Jon?” he yelled to the empty room, and when he got no response, he called out louder, “Jon?! Where are you?!”

Still no response.

Realizing Jon would probably still have been recording when… whatever happened, happened, Martin made his way through the hall and into the small office they’d set up in the back of the house. Jon was there all right, but he certainly wasn’t _ alright_. Martin couldn’t tell if he was unconscious or dead, but the way he was laying there motionless on the floor was far too familiar. 

As he rushed over to kneel by his side, he heard the faint click of a tape recorder turning itself on.

**Author's Note:**

> Zalgo text in the middle says "The sky was splitting open."


End file.
